According to the Association of British Insurers' report, 'Young Drivers: Road Safety and the Cost of Motoring', for a young driver, insurance can account for more than 50 per cent of their motoring costs, compared with just 6 per cent for an experienced driver. It clearly pays to look around when trying to find the best deal.
swiftcover.com, which was voted cheapest car insurance provider in 2008 by moneysupermarket.com, ran a comparative study to find out how much drivers in their twenties would pay for their car insurance with a number of insurance companies. In order to provide a balanced picture, three examples of men and women were chosen to show a range of ages, locations, car makes/models, occupations and driving histories.
Car insurance company Endsleigh targets students and younger drivers through its marketing campaigns but, when it comes down to hard cash, it is not as competitive as other insurers. On example three (see below), Endsleigh's insurance was £372.72 versus swiftcover.com's quote of £185.25, with a higher excess to pay in addition to the £190.47 in extra premium cost.
Tina Shortle, marketing director of swiftcover.com, comments: "Although young drivers are statistically proven to have a far higher rate of accidents, it does not necessarily follow through that this is the case for all drivers in their twenties. We believe at swiftcover.com that it is unfair for all drivers to pay over the odds simply because of their age. Through sophisticated analysis, we are able to ensure that a twenty something is treated as an individual not a number."
She added: "We were surprised by the differences in premiums, in a set of scenarios which were all quite different. One of the advantages of swiftcover.com is the fact that our efficient online service keeps our premiums lower as we keep administration running costs to an absolute minimum. Our message to all young drivers, both men and women, is to shop around - and certainly not to settle for your renewal premium until you have made sure it is competitive."
Example one:
Risk: 25 year old married couple, both bank workers; Citroen C1 VIBE 2005; Postal area YO24; 5 years NCD (no claims discount); No protected NCD. Source: confused.com
Insurer | Annual premium (cheapest top) | £difference in premium | Total excess |
swiftcover.com | £182.05 |
| £75 |
NU Simple Cover | £208.94 | £26.89 | £295 |
Hastings Direct | £225.56 | £43.51 | £100 |
LV | £348.99 | £166.94 | N/A |
|
|
|
|
Average saving |
| £79.11 |
|
Example two:
Risk: 22 year old male; student; Ford Ka Style 2003; Postal area NP44; No protected NCB; 5 years NCD; Drives 5,000 miles per year. Source: confused.com
Insurer | Annual premium (cheapest top) | £difference in premium | Total Excess |
swiftcover.com | £187.95 |
| £300 |
Churchill | £273.00 | £85.05 | £250 |
Virgin Money | £281.40 | £93.45 | £250 |
Tesco | £319.29 | £131.34 | £250 |
|
|
|
|
Average saving |
| £103.28 |
|
Example three:
Risk: 28 year old male; plasterer; Skoda Octavia Sport FSI 2007; Postal area TR1; No protected NCB; 5 years NCD; Drives 15,000 miles per year. Source: confused.com
Insurer | Annual premium (cheapest top) | £difference in premium | Total excess |
swiftcover.com | £182.25 |
| £400 |
Privilege | £275.10 | £92.85 | £400 |
Tesco | £367.50 | £185.25 | £400 |
Endsleigh | £372.72 | £190.47 | £500 |
|
|
|
|
Average saving |
| £156.19 |
|
For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Duffy or Joshua Van Raalte
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
01865 556 000
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About Swiftcover.com:
Based in Send, near Guildford and employing approximately 200 people,
www.swiftcover.com was born out of a desire to revolutionise the general insurance market. swiftcover.com started trading in June 2005, jointly owned by the founding management team and international insurer Primary Group.
swiftcover.com offers car, travel and pet insurance online, and is Britain's only insurance company without call centres, which means that the cost savings can be passed directly onto the customer and premiums are kept low. As a result, swiftcover.com was voted cheapest car insurance, on average, by moneysupermarket.com in 2007.
This powerful operating model combined with successful marketing and competitive pricing has proven to be a tremendous success. Last year swiftcover.com sold more than 312,000 policies and is considered to be the fastest growing insurer in the UK.
In 2007, AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Insurance UK PLC which forms part of AXA Group.
About AXA:
AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group. AXA is a world leader in financial protection. AXA's operations are diverse with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA employs 120,000 staff and tied agents and, as of June 30 2006, had €1,091 billion in assets under management. AXA reported total IFRS revenues of €72 billion and IFRS underlying earnings of €3,258 million for the full year 2005. Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.